Levett will give youngsters their chance at Sevenoaks, says James

Wednesday 07th July 2010

SEVENOAKS TOWN reserve team manager John James says the club will be utilising Keith Levett’s links with his Welling United Academy to give youngsters the chance to shine at Kent League level, writes Stephen McCartney.

James, who was speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk, says Levett will continue to run the Welling United Academy during the week and blood kids at the Greatness Park club.

Levett was named as Sevenoaks’ new first team manager, following the departure of Simon Jones, and he has already made his mark.

“I’m going to do a bit of floating this year,” explained 50-year-old James. “We’re hoping to bring in a couple of lads with the Welling Academy, who are doing their coaching badges.

“We’re going to play a lot of youngsters in the reserve side from the Academies and give them an opportunity to play for Sevenoaks between 16-19.

“Also, with a big junior section, we now need to start filtering lads through to see if their good enough.

“I’m going to be with the reserve team but at times floating between the 18s and the first team and reserves and having a look.

“I’ve known Keith Levett for possibly over twenty years and I will be doing a lot of scouting and generally link the whole club up now.

“I’m down as reserve team manager but I’m trying to bring the youth and senior clubs closer together.

“Keith spent a little bit of time last season coming down to bring some of the Academy lads plying for me and we had the likes of Tom Andrews, Leon Farrell and Charles Dunne, who were fantastic last year for us, enthusiastic sixteen or seventeen-year-olds, and it was something we really looked into.

“The club needs to go that way. It’s hard. We’ve got a budget, we’ve got a good budget but we would like youngsters and we’d like to find our own and have young lads who want to come and establish themselves.

“With Keith knowing so many people at Welling, it gives youngsters the chance to shine for us and then have a gateway to the Ryman League and the Conference.

“Keith will always use his connections and experience through the Academy. He’s still running the Academy from Monday to Friday, through Welling.”

James says striker Joe Creasey is ready to fill the void following leading goalscroer Billy Shinners defection to Kent League rivals Erith & Dartford Town.

He said: “I was having a chat with Joe Creasey, with Billy Shinnrs leaving, being the joint top scorer in the Kent League last year, Joe was very much looking forward to his second year in the Kent League now and being very much the local lad that everyone knows.

“He’s happy to stay around with his local club and hopes to score many goals this season.

“Joe is really pleased to be leading the line with the likes of Tony Atkins. I’ve spoken to Toby Webb and Michael Cook and people like that and they are all happy to have some new faces around and it’s business as usual really for another season.”

James felt Shinners has made the wrong move and insisted he should have stayed at Greatness Park, instead of opting to move to the promotion chasing Dockers.

He said: “Bill was a goalscorer and he helped us get a good place in the league, but he feels it’s possibly an opportunity to go higher.

“He has missed an opportunity with Keith as manager as he could have taken him there anyway, if he hung around this year.”

The club have this week confirmed that winger Chris Walker, has reported back for pre-season training, as have Sean Funnell, Webb, Cook, Creasey and Atkins, but there is a question mark over whether Joe Minter returns.

“Joe has been honest with me and says he is speaking to another club, and will join them for pre-season training,” Levett told www.sevenoakstownfc.org.

However, Danny Ward and Jamie Johnston seem to have severed their ties with the club.

“It looks like Danny won’t be with us, as he hasn’t got back to me, and the same goes for Jamie,” added Levett.

The new boss says he is disappointed to have lost Shinners.

He added: “It would have been nice to have kept him, but players move on and it’s a decision they make. I only spoke to Billy once, when he told me he was going training with another team. He said he would let me know, but he decided to go and never got back to me.”

Sevenoaks, who enjoyed their most successful campaign last year, finishing in sixth place in the Kent League and reaching the Kent League Cup Final, where they lost to Herne Bay, have confirmed that their home pre-season friendly against Blue Square South Woking will now take place at Greatness Park next Tuesday, 13 July (7:30pm).

Visit Sevenoaks Town’s website: www.sevenoakstownfc.org